Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Across the Stars ❯ Is This Home? ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: Not mine, gee where do you people get your ideas. ^_^

Summary: Akane Tendou has always wanted to be stronger than her rivals, she does not know the potential she actually has to be even better. Another marriage arrangement comes back to bite Soun in the behind. He's got some explaining to do.

Across the Stars

Episode 3-Is This Home?

Akane ran into the house, tears streaming down her cheeks, she bumped into someone and fell backwards, landing on the floor.

"Akane? A…are you alright?"

It was Ryouga's voice and she looked up, seeing that blue haired young lady standing next to him, concern was clearly etched on her pretty face as well.

"Ranma…he's just a stupid jerk, and I hate him." She wiped her eyes with her slender fingers.

Ryouga's fists clinched tightly at his sides. "What did he do this time Akane? You can tell me and I'll go and avenge your honor!" He shouted.

Standing up she smoothed her skirt out with the palms of her hands. "It's all right Ryouga, you don't need to do anything. I just feel so…so lost right now." She sighed, "I have no idea who I am or where I belong, ever since I learned of my heritage… I just wanted…" She couldn't continue. What she wanted was for Ranma to tell her to stay, not to go that she belongs here on Earth with him. But who was she kidding, he never saw her as anything more than the uncute fiancé he didn't want. But then she really never wanted the engagement anyway, that is until she got to know Ranma and started to like him. Before she knew what had happened, she had grown to love him so much that it hurts. She could not face his rejection. "Ryouga I am arranging to leave right now, I can't stay here any longer, I am sorry. I am thankful for your friendship over the past few years." Akane moved passed Ryouga and she heard him speak.

"Akane, don't go." Ryouga said. "You should stay here, I mean this is where you belong, not on some strange planet."

Akane sighed, her head held slightly downcast. If only it was Ranma saying this, she would have stayed in a heartbeat. She had suspicions that Ryouga had more affection for her than he should, but she never saw him the same way she saw Ranma. Ryouga was only a dear friend, honest and true. If she could have fallen for Ryouga she would have, but it was Ranma that she fell for, there was no way to make her heart not want him. She turned slightly. "I'm sorry Ryouga, I can't stay." And she headed into the tea room to tell her family and make the arrangements to leave now.

Akane's eyes opened, she was in a very large bedroom on board one of the Juraian imperial ships. She was in complete awe over the room when she had first stepped into the room many weeks ago and occupied during the journey, it had a large crystal and gold chandelier hanging down from the ceiling, which instantly lit when you stepped into the room. She noticed that the ship in a way was alive, long roots that formed the door way and dressers. Even her bed was made of smooth root, silk sheets laid across her. Akane pulled back the blankets and slowly rose from the bed, her white satin sleeveless nightgown, fluttered down her body to rest against her toes, the long train flowing out behind her as she moved towards the railing up against the windows. She stared out into the dark of space, the stars twinkling off in the distance. Akane lifted her hand and pressed it against the glass window, and closing her eyes.

"Oh Ranma," she breathed. "Why didn't you want me to stay, did you really hate me that much?" Akane said out loud. Perhaps he was glad to be rid of her? Her eyes narrowed for a moment in bitter anger, but then she realized she could not get angry. He didn't feel anything for her, which wasn't really his fault. Akane's expression softened. "You can't make someone fall in love with you, you can't make your heart feel something it won't. It is not his fault, it is my fault." She said out loud to her reflection in the window.

There was a knock at her door and Akane turned towards it, the roots that formed the door parted and in stepped a young woman with dark red hair, and beautiful violet eyes stepped inside, she was wearing a kimono of dark blue. She bowed to Akane.

"Lady Akane, I am Mayumi. One of your ladies in waiting, I came to assist your dressing. We will be landing on Jurai in less than an hour."

'Lady?' Akane cringed at the formal title. "You can just call me Akane."

Mayumi straightened up. "Oh I'm afraid I could never do that, your ladyship, it would be improper of me."

"But I am not a Lady," Akane rolled her eyes at the slip of her tongue. "I mean not a Lady with the title."

The serving girl approached Akane. "What are you talking about, you are the daughter of Lord Jin and Lady Ayia, your mother, may the gods rest her soul has passed on and her title passed on to you. You are a Lady, Lady Akane." Mayumi went to the dresser and started pulling out several different pieces of silk and satin. "We must get you looking presentable so that we may present you to the Prime Minister and the rest of court. Not to mention your father."

Akane swallowed hard. "What is he like?"

Mayumi paled instantly. "He's not one to mess with that's for sure, most people are afraid of him. He hardly ever smiles, and he is if anything one hundred percent serious, I don't think there is one ounce of kindness in his body at all. He was the exact opposite of Lady Ayia." She unfolded the pieces of cloth. "But don't take my word for it, meet him yourself and make your own judgment."

Akane nodded and let Mayumi assist her in dressing, mostly since she did not know how to put on any of these clothes, she then realized that all of the pieces of material was just an extravagant kimono with several layers. Mayumi brought over what she would wear underneath, it was similar to a Chinese style shirt that Shampoo often wore, it was made of pale pink silk and barely covered Akane's bottom, it was sleeveless. Once Akane was in her underwear, Mayumi then started assisting Akane into the first black layer…

Tenchi, who was dressed in royal Juraian clothing as well, wore a pair of soft white cotton pants, a white long sleeve shirt underneath a greenish blue tunic, a cape the color of ivory fastened against his shoulder with a solid gold clasp with the Jurai royal insignia on it. A katana tided to his side with a golden sash. He turned at the sound of rustling coming in through the doorway. It was Akane. He was a bit speechless at the sight of her, how could anyone think of her as…what was the word that boy used? Uncute was it?

"You look lovely." Tenchi said with a smile and he saw a faint blush caress her cheeks. He noticed that she actually wore four layers, the first was a black high neck and long sleeve garment which seemed to slightly hug her arms a small piece of the black material looped around her middle finger, the second layer was a dark pink, the arms flared out a little, the third layer was a dark green that went well with the pink. She also wore a cape like garment of white which fastened in the middle against her chest with leaf shaped golden clasps.

Akane couldn't help but feel embarrassed with his compliment. "Thank you," She squeaked out.

"Lady Akane," It was Oyama who spoke up and headed in her direction. He held out his hand and he waited as Akane placed her soft fingers into his palm. Oyama closed his fingers around hers and gently pulled her towards the window. "Welcome to Jurai, Lady Akane." He gestured towards the planet they were heading towards. They had just come through the atmosphere and Akane leaned forward looking at the beauty that was Jurai.

"Is this home?" Akane asked Oyama as she looked out the window, Jurai was pretty and green, the trees with their leaves of different colors. The landing pad was in her sight as the ship descended towards it.

Oyama nodded. "Yes this is home." As soon as the ship docked, Oyama took Akane by the hand and they followed Tenchi and a few of the royal guards as they exited the craft.

Akane was in awe at the size of the royal palace, she could see pieces of the stone castle sticking out of a very large thick tree. Waterfalls cascaded down several of the walls, and lovely leaves hid parts of the walls giving the palace a very romantic feel to the place.

"Are you nervous?" Oyama asked.

Nodding, Akane didn't know what to say. "Why do these things always happen to me?" She whispered walking through the large spacious hall way with white marble like pillars, there was a leaf with a long stem which wrapped around in the marble columns engraved in all of the pillars.

"Pardon, My Lady, did you say something?" Oyama asked her with a smile.

She shook her head. "No. Not really."

Tenchi looked back and saw Akane lower her head as she proceeded to head inside the palace along side Ambassador Oyama. "Miss Tendou?"

Akane's head snapped up and she looked right at Tenchi. "Yes?"

Turning to Oyama, Tenchi held his hand up. "Do you think I could talk with her before we meet whoever you arranged us to meet?"

Oyama looked at Akane and then at Tenchi, he knew this must be really hard on the two of them, leaving their old lives behind for Jurai, it was the least he could do, before he threw them to the wolves that is. The court of Jurai can be very intimidating, they needed to be prepared. "Very well, just don't take too long, the court does not like to be kept waiting." Oyama, signaled for the guards to follow him away from Tenchi and Akane.

Tenchi looked at Akane; she looked ready to burst into tears. "I know that we haven't really had time to talk on board the ship over the past couple of weeks. But I want you to know that I too have a problem with this. But it has nothing to do with you, so don't feel that anything here is your fault."

Akane looked right at him. "Then why aren't we fighting this, why are we letting them do this to us?"

With a small smile, Tenchi placed his hand on her shoulder in reassurance. "The girls back on Earth are finding a way to fight this. We just have to go along with what Jurai wants for now."

"What if they can't find anything?" Akane asked.

"Then we better get to know each other because well we would end up being married. But do not worry, they will find what we need."

She nodded. "Well we better not be addressing each other by our last names then, even if this whole thing doesn't ends up the way we want. So you can just call me Akane."

"All right," he then pointed to himself, "Tenchi is my name."

She nodded and he turned around just as Oyama and the royal guards stepped back into the hallway.

"Are we ready then?" Oyama asked the two of them, when he saw them nod he cleared his throat. "I will announce you, wait here." Oyama headed through the two very tall doors. In less than a minute Oyama returned. "All right, they are waiting for you."

Tenchi, with hopes to ease Akane's mind carefully reached down and clasped her hand in his and he pulled her through the open doorway. Oyama followed the both of them.

Akane looked up at the many seats that were occupied by Juraian royalty and members of the council. She and Tenchi were standing in a circular room, all around them were different levels of seating, much like a round stadium setting, on one side of the room was a large waterfall, and a small round moat flowing around the circular room. In between the seating levels were green trees, full and fat. Akane found herself, clutching Tenchi's hand a little bit harder.

"It's all right, relax." Tenchi whispered; he heard her sharp intake of air. He could feel her hand trembling in his.

She could hear the whispering all around her and that made her even more nervous, "That's easier said than done." She whispered back to him.

Oyama stepped in front of them. "May I present to the council and other members of the royal family, Lord Tenchi Masaki and Lady Akane Tendou." He then bowed.

The head of the council Hiroshi Kazuki stood up and bowed. "Welcome to Jurai, I know this must be very difficult for the both of you, but we will make the process of your adjustment here as quick and painless as possible."

A cough to the left of them alerted everyone, and they all turned their heads in that direction. Standing there was a very tall man who looked in his late twenties, he had dark green hair which was very long, tied back in three different sections with silk strands. His face was clean shaven and his eyes were dark chocolate brown. He was dressed in fine Juraian robes, and a dark green tunic which you could tell he was quite muscular underneath his clothing. He stepped toward Akane and Tenchi, circling the both of them.

"You look like your mother." The man said in a voice as cold as ice to Akane. He noticed she wanted to say something to him, but he waved his hand cutting her off before she had the chance to say anything. "I am Lord Jin Saki."

Akane took a deep breath, this man before her radiated intimidation and she could feel it down to the tips of her toes. "Y-you are my father?"

"That is correct, and do not stutter young lady." He talked down to her. Jin started circling the pair once more, but keeping his gaze upon Akane. "Hmm, I must say your posture is excellent, your hair is shorter than what I would have allowed. But you are not incredibly ill to look at, of course since you are the product of myself and your mother, I naturally assumed you would be attractive, good thing for that. Your manners are suitable considering that backwater, barbaric planet you have lived on for most of your life. Tell me have you mastered swordsmanship?"

She shook her head, and hoping she did not stutter, she said. "No, I was trained in the form of Kempo."

Jin nodded. "Your age is?"

"Seventeen."

"What about Academics?" Jin paced.

Akane cleared her throat. "I received very high marks while I was currently in my last year of high school. Mathematics is my strong point though, I excel in that area most of all."

He seemed pleased as he nodded his head. "Yet you know nothing about Jurai…about its history."

"Of course not sir, before Jurai's men came for me, I hadn't known the planet existed. Mama died when I was six years old, she never told me anything about you or this world." Akane said passionately and Jin's brow arched. "I loved my home so much and it is wrong for your people to come in a take me away from everything that I love."

"That was foolish on your mother's part not telling you about us, you need to get it through your head that you are not born of Earth parents my dear, oh no. You were born for this, for this planet and to help it succeed far into the future." Jin stood right in front of her causing Akane to step back a little. "All your ties to the Earth have been severed my dear, the family you grew up with, forget them. Your loyalty now is to Jurai and Jurai alone, and to me your father. In three months time my dear, you will wed this young man here." Jin said, finally turning to look at Tenchi.

"I must say," Tenchi finally spoke up. "That I too do not like this idea. We hardly know each other."

Jin's eyes narrowed. "That is beside the point, you two have three months to get to know each other, so that excuse does not hold up my boy. A contract is a contract." Jin started walking away from the two of them, he turned around once more. "Akane, get yourself acquainted with Jurai and the palace for tomorrow early, you will begin swordsmanship and you and Lord Tenchi will begin study hall as well. You two have a lot to learn and only a short amount of time to do it in. You two must be familiar with all things dealing with Jurai before you take the crown." And with that he simply turned facing away from them and exiting the meeting room.

* * *

Tenchi was looking up at a very large screen; he was talking to Washu who didn't really look too pleased. "Are you sure?"

"We haven't been able to find anything yet Tenchi, it looks like you better get to know the girl. Just in case we never find what we are looking for, I don't think we'll be able to help you from here." She looked down at her notes, "We are coming to Jurai; it is probably safe to assume that what we are indeed looking for might be in the Juraian royal palace's massive library."

The boy nodded, "Just do what you can, Akane is unhappy, I am unhappy. There has to be a way out of this and if anyone can find it Washu, you can."

"Well of course, after all I am only the greatest scientific genius in the entire universe." She cackled, then grew completely serious. "But in all seriousness Tenchi, I don't think there will be a way out of this arrangement."

Tenchi sighed and glanced down at his feet, "I'll keep that in mind, but please try your hardest to get us out of this."

"Will do," Washu's figure then disappeared from the screen and it went black.

Feeling a bit distressed, Tenchi figured he better find Akane and tell her the news. It wasn't going to be easy to tell her that the girls back on Earth might not be able to find anything to release them of this arrangement. Tenchi remembered that Akane had been so distressed that as soon as the meeting room was cleared, Akane ran out. He searched halls, rooms, her chambers. She wasn't anywhere. Tenchi then noticed Mayumi one of Akane's handmaidens and stopped her in the hall.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Lady Akane is, do you?"

Mayumi looked up at Tenchi and nodded. "Actually I do, I was just talking with her. I will escort you." She said and started down the hallway with Tenchi following after her. They came to two double doors that led out onto a very large balcony. "She is through there."

"Thank you," Tenchi said and he walked towards the doors and pulled them open. He saw her, Akane standing by the balcony railing, looking out at the landscape below. "Akane?"

She turned slightly at the sound of her name, although she was very upset she smiled. "Hey," She said then turning back around.

"What are you doing out here?" Tenchi asked as he walked towards her, coming to stand right beside her.

Akane rested her hands upon the marble railing, "Not much just thinking, and admiring the scenery. Gosh this place is so beautiful," She said as she gazed at the green lawn with trees shading parts of it. The lovely reds, purples, pinks and blue flowers planted in different shaped marble pots down below. "But the Earth is pretty too, my family and I when I was younger would travel to the country side of Japan for vacations, I never wanted to leave. The city is sure a lot different then the beauty that lies before me." She closed her eyes. "But I would do anything to go back, back to Earth, back to the noisy city."

Tenchi nodded and gazed down at what she was looking at, "I understand how you feel. I was searching for you earlier, I have learned of some news regarding the girls and their search back on Earth."

Turning a bit, Akane looked at Tenchi. She could tell he was not happy, seeing his gloomy disposition caused Akane to suck in a deep breath, she knew bad news was afoot. "What's the news?"

He started tracing a line on the marble with his finger. "They don't know if they can find anything to help us out of this arrangement. The girls are coming to Jurai and they will be searching the library for whatever it is they think can help. But if they don't find it then well… you know the rest."

"This is not good." Akane said quietly.

"You can say that again." Tenchi leaned forward on his hands, looking over the railing. "Well, your father seems…interesting."

Akane looked forward. "Hmmfh, he is not my father. My father is the man who raised me on Earth, who loved me and kissed my boo, boos when I got hurt. The man who was there for me. My father is Soun Tendou, not that arrogant, intimidating Jin Saki, who treated me like I was some kind of cow for sale or something. I do not appreciate being talked down to."

"Even though Mr. Tendou arranged for you also to have a marriage?" Tenchi asked, looking at her again.

She nodded. "He never really pushed me into it, it was arranged for when I was ready for it, not like this. He never would force me. If I fell in love with someone else I'm sure he would have let me out of the engagement with Ranma," Akane sighed.

"Ranma, he seems different." Tenchi smiled a little, "Especially with the whole changing into a girl thing, that must have been really bizarre."

Akane shook her head. "It was really strange, and the first time I met him I hated his guts. Well I guess that's not true. I didn't really hate him, I just hated the fact that my father arranged me into a marriage with someone I didn't even know. I wish I could have told him that, he didn't really deserve everything I had done to him." Akane's eyes were starting to swell with tears. "Ranma and I had been through a lot together, he was always one to come after me, to save me. But now…" She lifted her head, now looking out at the Juraian scenery once more. "Now he won't come for me, he can not. There is no way."

"Ooh," Tenchi could hear the light wave in her voice and he turned his gaze to her, he saw two wet drops fall onto the marble, just above where her hands were gently resting against the stone.

"Perhaps I should have been nicer to him, I could have. But I was just so…all those other girls had so much more to offer him than I ever could." She couldn't stop the tears they just started flowing feely. "I…I loved him, I truly did. And he will never know, ever." Akane lifted her hands to her eyes covering her face as she cried into them.

Tenchi sighed, reaching over he pulled her into his embrace wrapping his arms around her. He felt her clutching the front of his robes as she cried. "Shh, it's all right." He was threading his fingers through her dark blue black hair, trying to ease the poor broken hearted girl. "It's all right." He softly soothed…

* * *

Jin smoothly walked through the palace, entering his own bed chambers, there sitting on his bed, upon his black satin sheets was his mistress of the month. Naomi Tsu. She stretched her long legs out, giving him a view of her thigh.

"There you are my Lord." Naomi purred, "I have been waiting for you."

"I'm sure you have," Jin sat down gracefully in one of his fine chairs.

Naomi slowly stood, her sheer robe flowing down around her body. She approached him and sat down in his lap. "Tell me my Lord, why all the trouble of finding your daughter now, after all it's been many years since you've even given her a thought. Why now?"

Jin wrapped his arm around his mistress's slender waist. "Since when is it a crime for a father wanting to get to know his own daughter?"

She snuggled closer to him, pressing her full breasts up against his chest, and giggled, "Oh please, Lord Jin. You are not known through the whole planet as a family man, you must be up to something, there is a plan going through your dark and devious mind."

Jin reached up and took her chin within his thumb and forefinger. "My dear you are much too intelligent for your own good." He let a small smirk grace his usually expressionless face.

Naomi smiled seductively before leaning into him and pressing her lips against his...

======

Well that is it for episode three. Poor Akane. Oooh and what is Lord Jin up too? He's quite mysterious isn't he? And what of Ranma and the rest of the entire Tenchi/Ranma cast on Earth, what will they do now? Well stay tuned to find out.

Thank you all so much for the reviews, they really mean a lot to me, and I have now removed the login only review, so that anyone may review now. I only had the log in because I kept getting flames from anonymous posters and so I wanted to make sure that the reviewers were not being cowardly when they flamed me, the only way to do that was to have a log in only. But now I feel I can trust everyone again, so its now a free for all with the reviews ^_^

Thanks again,

Ryoko Blue